1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fishing equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to fishing reels.
2. The Prior Art
A vast number of fishing reels designed for many different applications are known in the art. A fishing reel is typically designed to perform the basic functions of releasing and collecting fishing line in response to user interaction with the reel. Although conventional fishing reels may be acceptable for some applications, they may be inadequate for other applications. Thus, many existing fishing reels are unfavored among experienced or professional anglers.
Conventional fishing reels may not be designed to tolerate the high rotational speeds that are encountered from time to time. For example, the rotating elements of many existing fishing reels may be poorly adapted to rotate at very high speeds. In addition, unless a reel is carefully balanced, high rotational speed causes undesirable vibrations, shaking, and wobbling in the fishing rod and reel assemblies. An unbalanced reel operating at high speed may cause the user to prematurely fatigue or may cause damage to the fishing rod and/or the reel itself.
Known fishing reels may be fabricated from materials unsuited for high speed operation. For example, some conventional reels can suffer from thermal expansion during extended or high speed use. Such thermal expansion may result in an unwanted increase in outgoing and incoming line drag. Heavy materials may adversely affect the responsiveness that may be desirable in a high speed reel. In addition, heavy construction materials may limit the practical size and corresponding line capacity of a fishing reel.
In certain situations, an angler may desire to control the outgoing line drag or outgoing line speed. For example, an amount of line drag may be useful to prevent slack from accumulating in the fishing line as it is released from the reel. Excess line may become tangled within the reel or become dangerously strewn about the angler's feet. If a fish is caught, it may be desirable to vary the outgoing line drag as the line is reeled in. For ease of use and enhanced line control, incoming line drag should be kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, conventional fishing reels may not incorporate unidirectional line drag adjusters.
It may be advantageous to vary the outgoing line drag while in the process of landing a fish. Unfortunately, fishing reels with variable line tensioning features may not be capable of easy adjustment during use. Such reels may require awkward manipulation of the fishing rod or manual adjustments at screws or levers located close to the reel itself. As such, manual adjustment of high speed reels can be unsafe if performed while the reels are in use.